With movie download services being the hottest thing to hit the Web, Apple decided to get in on the action and offer movie downloads in addition to music in their infamous iTunes store. It was only natural that Star Reviews look at iTunes in our testing. The findings of our experience are outlined below.
What's New with iTunes Movie Downloads?
- Hot movies for less than what you'd pay for the DVD in the store.
- You can download iTunes movies to your video-enabled iPod.
- No monthly subscription fees.
Star Reviews Favorite Movie Download Feature:
The fact that we could get our favorite iTunes music and movies through the same interface (and TV shows too) added an extra sense of convenience.
Movie Selection:iTunes has one of the largest movie selections available. From new releases to old favorites, if it's put out by Disney or Paramount, you're likely to find what you're looking for in the iTunes library.
How iTunes Works
Those who are familiar with downloading iTunes music to their iPods will find that downloading movies from the iTunes website isn't much different. You just need to make sure you're running the latest version of iTunes software (iTunes7) and that you are registered with the iTunes service and you're good to go.
We needed to update our iTunes software to version 7, which took us about half an hour (including download time) but once that was done, finding movies in the iTunes library was easy. We simply had to search for the movies we were looking for and begin our download (after authorizing the purchase of course).
As far as downloading went, we found that iTunes movies actually downloaded a bit faster than the other movie download services we had tested. We were able to download an entire movie file in less than two hours (as opposed to almost four hours with some other movie download services). Once the movies were downloaded, we were easily able to manage them through the iTunes interface and the movie quality was surprisingly clear.
Computer Requirements:
- Windows 2000 Service Pack 4 or later or Windows® XP
- 2.0 GHz Pentium class processor or better
- 512 MB RAM
- 32MB video RAM
- Broadband Internet connection
iTunes Movie Download Pricing Plan:
There is no subscription fee for the iTunes service. You simply pay for the movies you want to download as you download them. Most movies start at $9.99 and go up to $14.99.
Customer Support:
Apple offers customer support via phone, email and an online help database. Phone support was readily available and our call was answered in less than three minutes. The rep we spoke with answered our question thoroughly and was very knowledgeable. Email support was also very prompt and helpful, exceeding our expectations.
Upside:
Quick download times and a huge selection.
Downside:
Costs can add up since you have to pay for each movie individually.
Summary:
Apple iTunes is a name to be trusted-for movie downloads that is. You all know of them for their infamous music download service, but their movies are just as great, with incredible quality and download speeds. One downside customers might not love-you have to pay for movies individually, and those prices start at $9.99, a hefty cost. But, their selection is hard to match and you can even put those movie downloads on your handy-dandy iPod. Pirates of the Caribbean, anyone?